Shropshire Routes to Roots

2. The cast

The defendant and the victim

John Mapp is the defendant (also known as the accused). Before his arrest, he lived in Longden village, south of Shrewsbury. He is 35 years old. Eight years before this murder, in 1859, he was arrested for attacking an old woman. He was sent (transported) to Australia as punishment. He had been back in Longden for 18 months.

An artist's impression of John Mapp. Taken from a broad sheet about John Mapp's trial [Shropshire Archives reference: MI 2202/1]

Catherine Lewis is the victim. She lived in Longden, and worked as a maid. She was nine years old when she was murdered.

An artist's impression of Catherine Lewis. Taken from a broad sheet about John Mapp's trial [Shropshire Archives reference MI 2202/1]

The Witnesses

Jane Richards is a teenage girl who worked as a servant, sometimes at the same house as Catherine Lewis.

Aston is 17 years old. He is a waggoner, and a farm worker. He often worked with Mapp.

Edward Lewis is the father of Catherine Lewis. He is a farm labourer.

Police Constable Edward Jones is the local police officer. He lives in the village.

Dr. John Davies Harries is a surgeon at the county gaol. He also works as a coroner. This means he examines the bodies of people who have been killed suspiciously and tries to work out how they died. He examined Catherine Lewis after her body was found.

The Court Officials

The Judge is Sir Fitzroy Kelly. Before he became a judge, Sir Fitzroy Kelly was one of the highest paid and most successful barristers of the Victorian age.

He is also known as 'Apple-Pip' Kelly. He once famously (but unsuccessfully) defended a man who was accused of poisoning his wife, by trying to prove that she died from eating too many apples and not from swallowing acid.

The Prosecution is made up of Mr. Boughey and Mr. Warren.

The Defence barrister is Mr. Harrington.

There are twelve people on a Jury. For Mapp's trial, these were: Charles George Bailey, Francis Arthur Chaplin, John Cock, Joseph Chune, William Colwick, Edward John Davis, Francis Dicken, Matthew Edwards, William Pratt Harley, Price Richard Hinton, Thomas Minter, Thomas Purslow.

The Order of Events

The trial would have followed a standard order, with set oaths and speeches. If you want, you can follow these on a page showing the format of a trial (Opens in a new window).

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